Police initiate investigation into over 3,300 firearms missing from the security firm’s armory

Wednesday, 21 January 2015 01:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Police have initiated investigations on some 3,300 firearms missing from the armory that belongs to private security firm operating from the premises of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo. The police discovered that 3,322 firearms listed in the inventory were missing when the armory which was sealed by the police last week was opened today after obtaining a court order from Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya.

The police investigation teams found only 151 firearms at the armory belonging to the private security firm Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited (RALL) out of the 3,473 licensed firearms registered with the Ministry of Defense. The police said they have no records of what happened to the 3,322 licensed firearms stored at the arms depot. The deficit is the result of the arms being allocated to various duties claimed the security firm. The Defense Ministry website says Rakna Arakshaka Lanka. RALL is a fully state owned organization which functions under the purview of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. The Police are further investigating as to how the weapons have been released and the ammunition for the weapons. The police are investigating whether the armory contained any illegal firearms and if proper approval has been obtained to store weapons at the location, Police Spokesperson’s Office said. According to the logs the Defense Ministry had given permits for the following weapons: T- 56 - 2300 84-S - 670 LMG - 385 MPMG - 10 SLR - 11 Pistols - 08 12 Bore guns- 79 Shot guns- 10 Total. - 3473 Firearms recovered during the search T- 56 - 44 84-S - 35 LMG - 32 MPMG - 1 SLR - 11, Pistol -08 12-Bore guns- 29 Shot guns- 10 Total - 151